Church services

The Sacrament of Penance (Confession of Sins)

Participation in the Sacrament of Penance is part of Orthodox life. It is desirable that everyone has their own confessor, whom they visit regularly to confess their sins. Often, going to confession is also associated with pilgrimage. In the Valaam Monastery, Orthodox people can participate in the Sacrament of Penance upon request. Often, during the vigil, one of the priests will come to hear confessions. Most often, confessions are heard in the so-called winter church, i.e. in a smaller church attached to the main church. If the door of the winter church is closed, it usually means that confessions are currently being held in the winter church.

Baptism and myrrh anointing

Baptisms are also performed in monasteries. However, it is most natural that baptisms are performed in the parish of which the person being baptized becomes a member. Baptisms are most commonly performed in the so-called winter church, sometimes also in the main church. Baptisms are attempted to be performed by immersion, and therefore adults are sometimes also baptized in a lake. If someone who belongs to the Orthodox Church has already been baptized three times by immersion or by chanting in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, they can be joined to the Orthodox Church through myrrh anointing. Monasteries also perform church affiliations, for example, if the person in question is someone who has done volunteer work at the monastery and has become close to the monastery.

Requests for intercession

Churches have memorial cards for requests for intercession, on which you can write the names of people for whom you want to ask for intercession. A portion of the communion bread is taken in their memory during the proskomid before the start of the liturgy, or communion service. Only the first name is written on the cards, preferably in its ecclesiastical form. Cards intended for the living usually have red text, and cards intended for the dead have black (or blue) text. It is also possible to ask to be remembered in the proskomid for 40 days, for half a year, or for a year. A donation is given to the monastery for these longer memorials, 10 euros for a 40-day memorial, 50 euros for a half-year memorial, and 100 euros for a year's memorial. Prayers are also read by name during prayer services, or molebens. Those participating in the prayer service may bring their own memorial notes to the priest conducting the prayer service at the beginning of the prayer service, on which they have written the names of the people for whom they would like to be prayed during the prayer service.

Panihida

A panihida, or memorial service, is a prayer for the salvation of the deceased. Panihida is typically performed immediately after death, 40 days after death, and on anniversaries of death. A panihida can also be requested to be performed at a monastery. It is customary to give a donation to the monastery in connection with the panihida. Panihidas are not performed during the Bright Week after Easter until Thomas Tuesday, and preferably on Sundays.

Funeral service

Members of the brotherhood are buried in the monastery cemetery, but occasionally also lay people who have been close to the monastery in one way or another during their lives and have agreed with the monastery to be buried in the monastery cemetery. Funeral services are held in the cemetery's tsasouna and in the monastery church, depending on the season and the number of mourners. In an Orthodox funeral service, the deceased rests in the middle of the church in an open coffin, dressed in ceremonial clothing, with their feet facing the altar. The mourners stand around the coffin with burning incense in their hands. The color of the funeral is white, symbolizing the resurrection. The central message of the prayers and hymns is intercession for the soul of the deceased and firm faith in the resurrection in Christ.

According to Orthodox tradition, the deceased should be buried three days after death, because Christ rose from the dead on the third day. The deceased is placed with his feet facing east, so that in the resurrection his face will be towards the east. Immediately after death, a memorial service, or panihida, is held, which should also be held on the third, ninth and fortieth day after death and every year on the anniversary of the death.

Marriage ceremonies

Marriage ceremonies are not performed in monasteries. Marriage ceremonies are more naturally suited to parish churches than to a monastery, which is dedicated to a different way of life.